Variances tabled on new home construction

Thursday

Jan 27, 2011 at 2:00 AM

RYE — The Rye Beach Village District Board of Adjustment continued an application from Goodrich LLC, which requested a variance allowing a proposed home, driveway, parking area, three-car garage, pool and patio to sit within the ordinance-required 100-foot wetlands buffer.

Dave Choate

RYE — The Rye Beach Village District Board of Adjustment continued an application from Goodrich LLC, which requested a variance allowing a proposed home, driveway, parking area, three-car garage, pool and patio to sit within the ordinance-required 100-foot wetlands buffer.

Citing concerns with lack of information on the use of fill and what grades will exist on the property after changes are made, the five-member board said they could not approve the proposal Wednesday night.

"It only makes sense to do as much due diligence as possible before we reach the point of no return," said board member Shawn Crapo.

Drainage issues with the property dominated discussion, with a couple of residents also expressing concern. Attorney Denis Robinson of Pierce & Atwood and others associated with the proposal argued that the project did no public harm, and that the new home would actually represent a slight upgrade in some areas over the existing structure, particularly with regard to drainage.

Eric Saari of Altus Engineering said the existing drainage system collects from several adjacent properties and carries stormwater across the road to the Abenaqui Country Club golf course. The applicants are in talks with the golf course to potentially increase flow, but until then, Saari said, the situation is unlikely to improve dramatically — even with the existing system being re-done. Still, there should be no increase in peak loads, he added.

"When it came to the wetlands, there was a real effort to try and not impact them by what we were doing," Robinson said.

Representing abutters Tim and Liz Durkin, attorney Michael Donahue said his estimates indicate that some 220 dump trucks' worth of fill material would be put down to change the grades at the property and construct an 8- to10-foot-high retaining wall, which Robinson said would help shift impervious surface away from the wetlands. Donahue argued for an independent review of the solutions proposed by the applicant and soils on the property, saying he believed existing drainage issues would be made worse if the proposal went forward.

"They are building a massive dam here. That is going to exacerbate all of the existing drainage problems that everybody knows exists," Donahue said.

Out of the seven members of the public who spoke, two were in favor of the project and five against.

A second variance requesting a living space above the three-car garage was withdrawn Wednesday night.

The proposal is slated to return to the board on March 2, and Robinson said he would ask his clients if they were willing to pay for an independent consultant.

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